


hold out for morning

by Jerevinan



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Post-Game(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-13
Updated: 2017-07-13
Packaged: 2018-12-01 14:47:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,236
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11488590
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jerevinan/pseuds/Jerevinan
Summary: As nighttime creeps over Insomnia, Prompto feels a tightness in his heart and a fear leftover from so many years without light.[post-game, so there are spoilers!]





	hold out for morning

Prompto didn’t get to see all the different sites Insomnia had to offer before the attack. Many of the places he does remember are gone, like the stores near the Citadel. His old home is an empty shell covered in fine layers of dust, a place too painful to go back to more than once.

Eleven years later, he stands in the rubble of the red light district with Gladiolus, the evening sun casting a warm orange glow on the streets, and he can’t remember what it looked like the last time he traversed these streets. He visited once with Noctis, when they almost out of high school and felt daring enough to go behind Ignis and Gladiolus’ backs. 

Prompto has only vague recollections of how the streets looked, but he remembers how that day played out. He thought they would get caught and dragged home, and Regis would declare Prompto unfit to be in his son’s company. Maybe Ignis would—with his impeccable sense—figure out what they were doing and send Gladiolus after them. Perhaps someone would catch a photo of them and sell it to the paparazzi. But none of those things ever happened.

They weren’t as impressed with the district as they thought they would be. Noctis expressed disinterest in being out in public after ten minutes, and Prompto was accosted by a woman at least twenty years his senior. They walked several blocks out of the area and huddled beneath the awning of a storefront to call Ignis. The advisor picked them up and never mentioned a word to them about what they were doing and why they were there.

Prompto wonders if he can find that storefront, if it still stands. Somewhere, on an old drive, he has a selfie from that evening. He remembers the name of the store thanks to that photo. It was called Reeve’s Toys, and there was a giant mog doll nestled among much cuter, compact plushies. 

He remembers they didn’t have chocobos when he revisited the shop some few days later. What kind of toy store doesn’t carry chocobos?

Gladiolus follows some yards behind Prompto while he searches. They’ve been spending a lot of time looking through Insomnia. Until they returned with Noctis, they hadn’t dared go back. For Prompto, the thought hurt too much. Even when Cor and Aranea started scavenging the city for food and supplies and invited him to come along, Prompto declined.

“Looks familiar but nothing like what I remember,” says Gladiolus as Prompto pauses to stare at a street sign and make sense of the area.

“Scares me a little,” Prompto admits as he rolls a chunk of cement along the sidewalk under his boot. “We can clean this up, right?”

“We can and will.” Gladiolus extends his arm and wriggles his fingers for Prompto to come closer. 

Sliding sideways into Gladiolus’ embrace is exactly what he needs; the tension from years of grief is still coiled around his heart. Most of the bodies were cleared during the relief efforts that the Empire later abandoned, but there are still skeletons to be found. Those people…they could have been someone Prompto passed on the street, one of the cashiers at the game store, or one of his former teachers.

He never did find his parents.

Gladiolus gives his arm a squeeze. “It’s all right, Prompto.”

Prompto nods, sucking in a breath and swiping at his eyes. “It’s getting dark,” he mutters before he lets out a short laugh. 

“I keep forgetting, too,” says Gladiolus, chuckling. “We spent a lot of nights in this city never worrying about daemons, and now that we’re back and the daemons are gone…”

“It’s easy to forget.”

They walk further down the block, Gladiolus’ hand resting on his hip. It isn’t hard to navigate the rubble in some areas; some places look untouched by the war, nothing more than ghost towns. Such a neighborhood is where they plan to take residence, but for now, they’re staying in Hammerhead. Most of the homes they’ve secured so far have gone to others—refugees clearing out of Lestallum. With the help of Cor, Iris, Ignis, Aranea, and several others, they’ve been doing what Noctis would want for the city and taking care of its citizens first. 

They’re securing a future.

But sometimes, as the nights creep back upon them, there’s a stillness in the air that makes Prompto hold out for morning. The dawn’s light sometimes never comes soon enough. 

“Morning’s coming, don’t worry,” Gladiolus says, because he always knows. He pauses on the sidewalk and leans in to give Prompto a kiss on the lips. His hands cup his face so that their eyes meet. “Someday this city’ll light up like it’s supposed to, the way it _used_ to. Remember when we looked forward to night, Prom. Remember that.”

Prompto swallows but feels the sting of tears and the lump in his throat. The coil tightens around his heart a little more. 

“That makes me miss Noct even more. He was always with us.”

“Yeah, but he’d want you to enjoy the nightlife again. We had some good times. Even when we left the city.”

Prompto laughs through his sobs. “The first time a daemon rose out of the ground, it was an iron giant. First daemon I ever saw. I thought I’d _die_.”

“And Noctis hit the gas and drove backwards to get away. We found a haven nearby and set up camp as fast as we could.”

“I was scared that night. I thought maybe the haven wouldn’t hold, no matter how many times I was told it was safe.”

Gladiolus laughs. “I know. I’m the one you clung to all night.”

“Would’ve done that anyway.”

Gladiolus hugs Prompto. “I didn’t mind,” he admits.

“Sometimes I worried you did. That you didn’t want me there.”

“You belonged with us, from the beginning. I know I said a lot of shit back then, said you were the only one with the choice to leave, but we wouldn’t have been the same without you. We needed you.”

Prompto claws at the back of Gladiolus’ shirt and soaks his shoulders in his tears. Some more tension leaves—years of it, chipping away at the metal spirals choking on his heart until something snaps and he feels like he can breathe again. He may have reaffirmed his place years ago, but it’s still reassuring to hear, especially from Gladiolus.

“I’m glad I have you,” adds Gladiolus. It’s as good as “I love you”—better, even.

“You’re lucky,” agrees Prompto when he can speak. “And I’m lucky, too. Thanks, Gladio.”

He reaches up on the tips of his toes and kisses Gladiolus on the lips. 

“Ready to go back?” asks Gladiolus.

“Yeah,” says Prompto, who reaches down to switch on the lamp attached to his belt. Someday, they won’t need that. There will be lights coming from all the buildings, colorful signs over shops shining so brightly that they can be seen several blocks away.

He pauses. “Where are we?”

Gladiolus shrugs. “Head toward the Citadel, and once we’re close enough, we’ll go from there.”

Sometimes they ought to plan out their exploring or at least consider taking an old map with them. But Prompto doesn’t mind a little meandering. He could be anywhere in the world, but he’s safe with Gladiolus, and he’s even safe at night again.

**Author's Note:**

> The whole part about the iron giant is what happened in my first playthrough. The guys had just gotten the car back at nighttime in chapter one, and Noctis was allowed to drive...so naturally an iron giant rises out of the ground as soon as we're out of Hammerhead. Drove backwards and looked for a haven. 
> 
> It seems like something Noctis would do tbh, is just drive backwards trying to avoid a daemon rising up in the road, so I thought it would be a fun addition.
> 
> ...especially because there is so much SADNESS. Why am I writing so many sad things lately? Though it was meant to also be comforting!


End file.
